Ralph A. Alvarado (born April 30, 1970) is an American physician and politician who most recently served as the 15th Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health from 2023 until his resignation in 2025. He served as a member of the

Kentucky Senate The Kentucky Senate is the upper house of the Kentucky General Assembly. The Kentucky Senate is composed of 38 members elected from single-member districts throughout Kentucky, the Commonwealth. There are no term limits for Kentucky senators. T ...

representing the 28th District from 2015 to 2023. Upon taking office, he became the first Hispanic person elected to the

Kentucky General Assembly The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets annually in th ...

. His father is from

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

and his mother is from

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. He assumed office on January 1, 2015, serving until January 6, 2023, when he would resign to accept the role of commissioner.

Biography

Alvarado was born April 30, 1970, in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and raised in Pacifica and

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

. He graduated from

Bellarmine College Preparatory Bellarmine College Preparatory is an all-boys, Jesuit, private secondary school located in San Jose, California. Founded on May 8, 1851, it is the oldest Jesuit secondary school in California and the second-oldest west of the Mississippi River. ...

in San Jose in 1988. In 1990, Alvarado graduated from

Loma Linda University Loma Linda University (LLU) is a private Seventh-day Adventist health sciences university in Loma Linda, California. , the university comprises eight schools and a Faculty of Graduate Studies. It is a part of the Seventh-day Adventist educatio ...

in California with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in biology and completed an MD from the same university in 1994. He completed his

residency Residency may refer to: * Artist-in-residence, a program to sponsor the residence and work of visual artists, writers, musicians, etc. * Concert residency, a series of concerts performed at one venue * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or m ...

at the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center.

Politics

In 2014, Alvarado was elected to the Kentucky State Senate representing Kentucky's 28th Senate district. In 2016, he spoke at the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...

. He sponsored a 2017 medical malpractice bill that was later struck down by the

Kentucky Supreme Court The Kentucky Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Prior to its creation by constitutional amendment in 1975, the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky. The Kentucky Court of Ap ...

for obstructing access to the courts. Alvarado was chosen by Governor Matt Bevin to be his running mate in the

2019 Kentucky gubernatorial election The 2019 Kentucky gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2019, to elect the Governor of Kentucky, governor and Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, lieutenant governor of Kentucky. The Democratic Party (United States), Democratic nominee ...

. The Bevin-Alvarado ticket lost the general election on November 5, 2019, to the Democratic ticket of

Andy Beshear Andrew Graham Beshear ( ; born November 29, 1977) is an American attorney and politician serving as the 63rd governor of Kentucky since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 50th attorney gen ...

and

Jacqueline Coleman Jacqueline Layne Coleman (born June 9, 1982) is an American educator and politician serving as the 58th lieutenant governor of Kentucky since 2019. She has worked as a high school administrator, teacher, and basketball coach. Coleman is the foun ...

. On November 22, 2022, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced that he had appointed Alvarado commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health. Alvarado would resign from the

on January 6, 2023, and become the 15th Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health on January 16, 2023. A special election was held on May 16, 2023, to fill the 28th Senate District vacancy created by Alvarado's resignation. Republican candidate

Greg Elkins Gregory Allen Elkins (born October 10, 1964) is an American politician from Kentucky. He is a Republican who has represented District 28 in the Kentucky Senate since June 8, 2023. Elkins won a special election on May 16, 2023. He is also a bus ...

defeated Democratic candidate Robert Sainte and

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate Richard Henderson. On July 8, 2025, Alvarado revealed he was considering a run for Kentucky's 6th congressional district seat being vacated by Rep.

Andy Barr Garland Hale "Andy" Barr IV (born July 24, 1973) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Kentucky's 6th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the adm ...

, due to the latter's candidacy for the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

seat held by the retiring

Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell McConnell III (; born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky, a seat he has held since 1985. McConnell is in his seventh Senate term and is the long ...

. On July 11, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced that, effective immediately, Alvarado had resigned his role as health commissioner.

References

External links

Profile at the Kentucky Senate website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarado, Ralph 1970 births 21st-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly American people of Argentine descent American people of Costa Rican descent American politicians of Costa Rican descent Bellarmine College Preparatory alumni Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Kentucky Living people Loma Linda University alumni People from Pacifica, California People from San Jose, California People from Winchester, Kentucky Physicians from Kentucky Politicians from San Francisco Republican Party Kentucky state senators